The Israeli military said Hezbollah fired about 215 projectiles against northern Israel this morning, setting off sirens across the area and setting fires. Officials downplayed the large number, saying there were no injuries.
This may not be a one-time event, as Hezbollah official Hachem Saffieddine said at a funeral ceremony for Hezbollah commander Taleb Sami Abdullah, that the movement would intensify attacks in “severity, strength, quantity and quality.”
Abdullah was a senior commander in Hezbollah and the highest ranked officer to be killed in the past eight months of Israeli attacks. He was killed late on Tuesday in southern Lebanon.
Saffieddine said it was “natural” that Abdullah was a permanent target of Israel. Abdullah was brought to his hometown of Aadschit for a funeral and burial.
Israeli interceptors were activated in response to the intense rocket fire this morning, and Israeli Fire and Rescue Authority was deployed to extinguish brush fires caused by rockets hitting open ground.
Israel has been talking of their preparation for a very intense war with Lebanon, and Britain reportedly warned Lebanon this might be planned for mid-June. The escalations on both sides have been ongoing for weeks, if not months, and international efforts to prevent a full-scale war have so far failed.
